Damage detection based on optimized incomplete mode shape and frequency

For the purpose of structural health monitoring, a damage detection method combined with optimum sensor placement is proposed in this paper. The back sequential sensor placement (BSSP) algorithm is introduced to optimize the sensor locations with the aim of maximizing the 2-norm of information matrix, since the EI method is not suitable for optimum sensor placement based on eigenvector sensitivity analysis. Structural damage detection is carried out based on the respective advantages of mode shape and frequency. The optimized incomplete mode shapes yielded from the optimal sensor locations are used to localize structural damage. After the potential damage elements have been preliminarily identified, an iteration scheme is adopted to estimate the damage extent of the potential damage elements based on the changes in the frequency. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated using a numerical example of a 31-bar truss structure.